1 Corinthians 7 (2)

Dear Paul…?

We are living in an era of unprecedented attacks on sexuality, marriage, and divorce.

But we are not the first generation to experience confusion and uncertainty regarding such issues.

Believers in Corinth 2,000 years ago had questions. Most of those believers had come from backgrounds where the gods/goddesses were

The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer (Chapter One: Ancient Rome)

amplified humanity, not divinity. Like the Greeks, the Romans had no infinite god. This being so, they had no sufficient reference point intellectually; that is, they did not have anything big enough or permanent enough to which to relate either their thinking or their living.

Those believers with Jewish backgrounds had a grounding in God’s laws. But God’s laws had been given to a people in a different era, people living in a different world.

It is only natural that believers - regardless of their backgrounds - would have questions about the important issues in their lives.

Sex, Marriage, Divorce

Obviously an important concern in Corinth - as in many Roman cities of the first century -related to sex, marriage, and divorce.

One writer reminds us that

..,.Rome was a culture of extreme promiscuity and inequality. Those who had power—male citizens—were able to express their sexuality by taking who and what they wanted. Their culture’s brand of sexual morality was exemplified in the Caesars who, one after the other, “were living icons of immorality and cruelty,” using sex as a means of domination and self-gratification.

(https://www.challies.com/articles/3-awful-features-of-roman-sexual-morality/).

So it shouldn’t be a shock to discover that one question these believers had for Paul starts with sex.

1 Corinthians 7:1 (HCSB)

“It is good for a man not to have relations with a woman.”

This apparently was a common slogan among the believers in Corinth. Some of the ‘super-spiritual’ understood marriage as a ‘spiritual union.’ There was no need for physical intimacy among married partners.

Paul immediately reminds those believers that God’s plan and purpose for sex - physical intimacy - is within the boundaries of marriage. Period.

Paul encouraged people to consider living as he did -

1 Corinthians 7:8 HCSB

I say to the unmarried and to widows: It is good for them if they remain as I am.

This reflects Jesus’ own teaching regarding marriage, divorce, and singleness:

Matthew 19:3–8 HCSB

Some Pharisees approached Him to test Him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife on any grounds?” “Haven’t you read,” He replied, “that He who created them in the beginning made them male and female,” and He also said: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate.” “Why then,” they asked Him, “did Moses command us to give divorce papers and to send her away?” He told them, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of the hardness of your hearts. But it was not like that from the beginning.

Jesus’ disciples are confused and they ask Him a question:

Matthew 19:10–12 HCSB

His disciples said to Him, “If the relationship of a man with his wife is like this, it’s better not to marry!” But He told them, “Not everyone can accept this saying, but only those it has been given to. For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb, there are eunuchs who were made by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves that way because of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.”

But what about those families where one spouse is a believer and the other is not?

1 Corinthians 7:12–13 HCSB

But I (not the Lord) say to the rest: If any brother has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not leave her. Also, if any woman has an unbelieving husband and he is willing to live with her, she must not leave her husband.

1 Corinthians 7:15 HCSB

But if the unbeliever leaves, let him leave. A brother or a sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you to live in peace.

For most of those families it was far easier to simply stay married. Paul encourages families to stay intact - for kingdom purposes:

1 Corinthians 7:16 HCSB

For you, wife, how do you know whether you will save your husband? Or you, husband, how do you know whether you will save your wife?

1 Corinthians 7:17 HCSB

However, each one must live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him. This is what I command in all the churches.

Many of these believers were slaves. Many were non-Jewish and had not been circumcised.

In both cases Paul’s counsel is simple:

1 Corinthians 7:20 HCSB

Each person should remain in the life situation in which he was called.

Singles in the Kingdom

1 Corinthians 7:25 HCSB

About virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I do give an opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.

Note: this is Paul’s opinion, not a command from the Lord.

Paul’s counsel is based on his conviction that Jesus would return within his lifetime. His focus is expressed in

1 Corinthians 7:35 HCSB

Now I am saying this for your own benefit, not to put a restraint on you, but because of what is proper and so that you may be devoted to the Lord without distraction.

I’m Engaged…Now What?

Paul has already emphasized that it’s OK to be single.

(see 1 Cor 7:8)

Paul’s conviction about the imminent return of Jesus (see vs 33-35) is not meant to keep people from marriage!

Sex, Marriage, and Divorce in the 21st Century

What happens if we read Paul’s answers to the questions in light of what he wrote in 1 Cor 6:20

1 Corinthians 6:20 HCSB

for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.

He actually repeats that same wording in 1 Cor 7:23

1 Corinthians 7:23 (HCSB)

You were bought at a price...

Then in 1 Cor 7:35 he writes

1 Corinthians 7:35 HCSB

Now I am saying this for your own benefit, not to put a restraint on you, but because of what is proper and so that you may be devoted to the Lord without distraction.

ULTIMATE ISSUES

PRIORITY ONE: THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Embedded in Paul’s answers is his unswerving commitment to life in the new kingdom of God.

Certainly there is an aspect of God’s Kingdom that must wait till the end -

1 Corinthians 15:24 HCSB

Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when He abolishes all rule and all authority and power.

In the meantime we are living in a new era - the era of God’s kingdom being fulfilled and realized even in our day to day lives.

Jesus taught His disciples to pray:

Matthew 6:10 HCSB

Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Marriage is God’s gift and God’s design. Sex within marriage is God’s gift and God’s design.

The question of marriage - besides the who, the when, and the where - ought to be:

How can our marriage illustrate and illuminate the coming kingdom of God?

Marriage - as Paul wrote in his letter to believers in Ephesus

Ephesians 5:31–32 HCSB

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church.

Kingdom minded citizens will always bear in mind that marriage must be protected from all attempts to undo that which God has designed.

The real issue Paul seeks to underline:

We are citizens of a different kingdom than the world in which we live.

Do our attitudes and actions really reflect a heart and mind that are being transformed by the indwelling Spirit of God?

Do our marriages and our families reflect the character of the Holy God in whose image we have been created and given new life?

It is a wonderful reality to acknowledge that though we may fail, though we may not always live up to all God has called us to, He forgives, He restores, and He continues to work through us in proclaiming the greatness of God through Jesus Christ!